


Abraxas

by raplapla



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Spoilers for Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Spoilers for Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-23 03:06:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21313150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raplapla/pseuds/raplapla
Summary: The two brightest girls in Garreg Mach find themselves tangled in a web of grief and guilt when they **** *******.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Lysithea von Ordelia
Comments: 12
Kudos: 48





	Abraxas

> “Abraxas speaketh that hallowed and accursed word which is life and death at the same time. Abraxas begetteth truth and lying, good and evil, light and darkness in the same word and in the same act. Therefore is Abraxas terrible.” 
> 
> — Carl Jung, _ The Seven Sermons to the Dead _(1916)

"The author here makes a lot of conclusory leaps without any of the evidence to back it up," Lysithea complained. She and Annette were in the library again. Classes were over for the day and the silence of the empty halls outside seemed to permeate into the room from under the stately wooden door, leaking into each crevice between the bricks of the walls. The library had no windows (it was better for the books that way) but somehow the room always seemed darker at night, as though someone had soothed the candles into a daze with a whispered hush. Every other student at Garreg Mach was at dinner. 

Lysithea continued her scathing review. "Which is really my problem with The Compendium overall. Even if it were 100% accurate in every single one of its claims, by not showing its work to the reader it renders itself pretty much completely useless as a building block for further application and research. And as we both know, it's _ not _ entirely accurate regarding dark magic," Lysithea grinned and rolled her eyes, looking to Annette like the entire body of scholarship surrounding the use of dark magic was their own private trifle.

Annette laughed lightly. "What kinds of things do you think it gets so wrong about dark magic?" She sat across the table from Lysithea, her own Compendium of Light and Dark neatly inked in front of her. She mostly used blue and gold for her notations, an endearing display of house pride, but lately she'd been squaring off the sections that she and Lysithea talked about together in purple. 

Lysithea had also noticed that Annette had written the date of the Ethereal Moon Ball in her planner in purple, a fact she’d neatly and cleanly kept herself from thinking about. 

Lysithea frowned. "Annette! You were the one who pointed out the biggest error to me, just the other day!" 

"Oh, you mean that thing I noticed about the energy drop?" She tapped her quill against her chin absently, leaving a tiny purple mark. Lysithea stared at it unabashedly. 

"You didn't just 'notice' it, you came up with a flawless proof to show that it exists! That really was incredibly insightful. I can't believe you forgot." Lysithea felt her tone getting sharp and smiled apologetically. "Your work regarding the energy differential between pre and post spellcasting phases was legitimately groundbreaking. You kept your notes, right?"

Annette nodded. "I did, but… don't you think other people have probably come up with the exact same problem, and solution, before?"

Lysithea shook her head. "Clearly Mr. Compendium didn't." Lysithea cracked a haughty smile. The girls laughed. They were missing dinner to be up here, alone, together, and this was a fact that neither of them had mentioned once. 

"Hmm." Annette mused, setting down her quill. "Lysithea, don't you think it's a bit silly to refer to our notes as 'our work'? We are still just... students, after all. We still have a lot of learning to do… probably years and years of it before we’re, you know, _ scholars _…Right?”

Lysithea winced inwardly as a familiar pang of dread rang out dully from her chest. She endured it. She smiled, but shook her head firmly. "I don't think it's silly. If you don't take yourself seriously, who will?" A pause. She let herself continue, urged onward by a sudden and awkward sense of urgency.

"Annette, you're brilliant, you know…. Your unique approach to the internal logic of magic is exactly like you, and I don't think anyone anywhere could ever hope to replicate it." And then, before she could stop herself. "It's really beautiful." As she spoke, her face grew hot.

Annette blushed too. Last week, she probably would have deflected the compliment onto Lysithea entirely. Now, she said "You are too, Lysithea." 

Lysithea opened her mouth, to say what, she couldn't remember, when suddenly the door to the library swung open, hitting the wall with a sharp cracking sound. Lysithea jumped in her seat and turned to see Sylvain bluster into the room. 

As Lysithea continued to scramble for words and process Annette’s, Annette scrunched her nose up in a pout. “Syl_ vain! _Aren’t you on kitchen cleanup duty tonight?!” 

Sylvain laughed and made his way over to the girls’ table. “Already finished, Annie! Well, Felix hit me with a broom, which pretty much means I’m done. My services aren’t needed there,” he gestured vaguely and plopped down next to Lysithea. “Or… something.” He took a drink from the standard-issue Faerghus military canteen in his hand. Lysithea wrinkled her nose.

“You reek.” She told him, but he wouldn’t meet her eye. “Do you think just because we’re a couple years younger than you that we don’t know what alcohol smells like?” She scoffed, not bothering to hide the irritation in her voice. 

Sylvain chuckled and sent a lazy glance her way. Before he could answer, Annette piped up. “Y-yeah, Sylvain! We’re not stupid!” Lysithea noticed her face was red. _ Did _she know what alcohol smelled like? 

Sylvain wobbled a moment, almost falling out of his chair. “Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. I wouldn’t dream of insulting the two smartest young ladies in Garreg Mach, trust me. I know you girls know how to hit a man where it hurts.” Lysithea blinked. “Or at least, _ she _does.” He alcohol-whispered to her conspiratorially, pointing to Annette. 

“Felix deserved it and you know it.” Annette huffed. “Anyways Sylvain, why are you _ drinking _?!” She asked in a way that confirmed to Lysithea that Annette, indeed, did not have much experience being around alcohol. 

Sylvain barked out a laugh. This time, it had a hard edge. Another drink. A long pause. Lysithea and Annette shared a look. “No offense,” Sylvain finally said hollowly, after the echoes of his singular HA! had soaked into the bookshelf. “but I don’t think you ladies would really get it.” 

Lysithea didn’t miss a beat. “Try me.” She replied dryly. Sylvain wiped his mouth lazily and then shifted to face her more directly. “_ You _ especially wouldn’t get it.” Sylvain sneered. Lysithea was suddenly aware of how close their bodies were. 

“What is _ that _ supposed to mean?” She frowned, leaning closer though every instinct in her small and frail body was telling her to lean away. 

Sylvain leaned closer as well, his hot breath smelling like the vinegar brine solution used to clean dungeons after…

Lysithea grit her teeth, refused to budge. “I’m just _ saying,” _ Sylvain breathed, and Lysithea stopped breathing to avoid the smell. “That _ apparently _ two crests really are better than one, since, i mean, _ you’re _ little miss prodigy and _ I’m _the monumental fuck up.” 

Lysithea’s vision flashed white. She pushed Sylvain away and made to stand up but he grabbed her arm. “You know it’s true!” He hissed, slurring his words. Lysithea heard his drink fall to the floor. But she could suddenly hardly see, could hardly feel Sylvain’s grip on her upper arm, could hardly hear anything but the gravelly voice of an unnamed, black-clothed, blood-dripping, slithering mage laughing “another fuck up, another fuck up, another fuck up” and dragging the body of her sister, her sister, her brother, her sister, her brother, across the cold stone floor of the dungeon, a stiff toe catching on a stray manacle and scraping the ground like the nails of some unholy dragon - 

“Sylvain!” Annette, so far away. 

Two crests, two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two crests, two crests, two crests two

Better than one. Better than one?!

“You,” Lysithea breathed, voice quaking. “_You _ don’t know _ anything _ ! You traipse around the monastery like a bloated peacock feeling so sorry for yourself because what? Too many women throw themselves at you? Because you have a _ crest _?” Lysithea shoved at Sylvain again but he was stronger than she was by far. Somehow in the last 30 seconds they had both made it to a standing position but their legs remained confined to the tiny space between the seat of the library bench and the table. 

She could feel his nails digging into a scar in the crook of her arm. She could feel him sway with alcohol, leaning against her like a wounded soldier and a lance. She lurched, trying to wrench herself again from his grip, panic rising. “You are pathetic! You are disgusting! You are a _ worm! _” Her voice was growing shriller and shriller. Her vision flashed. Manacles on a cold floor. 

“Lysithea!! Sylvain! You guys,” 

Dirt under tiny rotting fingernails. White. “You think your life is hard because you’ve got one dead brother? One dead sibling? I have _ ten _.” Lysithea spat in Sylvain’s face. “You’re weak. Even with that stupid crest, you’re worthless.” 

Sylvain made a sound like a slain animal.

He was yelling something at her but she couldn’t process it. Lysithea’s face hit the floor and her arm made a loud, unnatural popping sound. Her vision went white again but her body moved on its own, limbs scrambling wildly without direction away from Sylvain. She heard Annette shouting, felt herself gathered under Annette’s small arms like they were wings, protectively arching over her like a fountain. Sylvain pulled something from his pocket and stumbled forward. And then Annette’s arms turned to knives - bright light splintered from her fingertips and skewered Sylvain like a pig on a spit. He sputtered crimson, retched something dark and yellow and sick, and collapsed.

The smell of burnt skin. 

Lysithea squeezed her eyes shut. 

When she opened them, the flickering light of the candles spun in lazy circles on the ceiling. She noticed for the first time that the way the ceiling was vaulted left small corners of darkness tucked away in the eaves. She became conscious of a weight on top of her. It was silent.

Annette was breathing heavily, somewhere nearby. Lysithea turned her head a couple inches. Annette was crumpled on the floor, leaning against the legs of the table. She was shaking, her breath hard and shallow, eyes wide, looking at Sylvain. 

Lysithea sat up and pushed Sylvain off of her. She noticed he was very still. She knew. 

She felt bile rising in her throat. The hollow look in her brothers dull green eye. The smear of blood down Sylvain’s chin, the color of it sprayed across the front of her clothes. Lysithea turned away from Annette and tried to control her dry heaving. 

She heard the squeak of boots on stone as Annette crawled up behind her and wound bloodied fingers through the cracks between Lysithea’s clenched bone-white knuckles. Cool and firm and crackling with unseen static.

“I’m sorry,” Annette whispered, blue eyes brighter than Lysithea had ever seen them, pupils a pinpoint. Her hair was flying free of its loops, her cheeks peach-rosy over her freckles with exertion.

Lysithea felt her face grow hot. Then she turned away from Annette and vomited on the floor.

**Author's Note:**

> Abraxas (Japanese: アプラクサス Apraxas) is a white magic spell that debuted in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. It is the game's ultimate white magic spell, usable only by a select few units.


End file.
